Consumer rights group calls for patience on Colosseum repair

23/01/2013

Reports on poor condition 'alarmism' to influence judges

Rome, January 23 - Italian consumer group Codacons
thumped for patience in escalating furor over the restoration of
the Colosseum on Wednesday, saying unnecessary alarmism over its
condition threatened to bias the outcome of a pending judicial
decision over its fate.
"News arriving with ever-increasing urgency over new
(structural) collapses and risk of breaking (stone) appear aimed
at creating an unjustified and generalized alarmism, and seems
to have the precise purpose of pushing the judges of the Council
of State (administrative appeals court), which will decide next
April 16 on the merit of the appeal presented by Codacons, to
rule in favor of giving a go-ahead to restoration work by
Tod's," wrote Codacons Chairman Carlo Rienzi.
In recent weeks, Roman Mayor Gianni Alemanno has pressed
hard for clearance to begin 25 million euros worth of work on
the Italian landmark, to be financed by the Italian luxury
shoemaker Tod's, and called upon on judges to issue a ruling.
Meanwhile the Roman Superintendency of Archeology began work
in January to create a safety-zone around the ancient Roman
arena to prevent injuries from possible falling materials.
The press reported that pieces of facade and other bits
fell with increasing frequency during 2012, also cited a fire
department report from August that spoke of disintegrating stone
material.
Codacons has an on-going legal complaint against the
Tod's-backed renovation plan for the Colosseum, claiming the
bidding process lacked transparency and yielded too many
concessions to Tod's in exchange.
The regional administrative court ruled against Codacons'
complaint last summer, but Codacons filed an appeal to Italy's
highest administrative court.
The Codacons president concluded his message on Wednesday
calling for "a clear and transparent bidding process, which
rewards the most capable operators without 'pawning off' assets
that belong to the public".
Reinzi said he "mistrusts the Superintendency of
Archeology's issuing of declarations" about the Colosseum's
state of decay "that can, on the one side, bring unjustified
alarm and on the other illegitimately influence justice
decisions."